The story A Separate Peace takes place at a boy's boarding school called Devon. Devon was built in the middle 1800's and is located in New Hampshire. In the story there are two main characters, Gene and Finny, who are linked to other things in the story. For example, Finny is compared to the Devon River and the Summer Session and Gene is compared to the Naguamsett and the Winter Session.
             The Devon River is a narrow, little river that is located above the dam. It is a fresh water river found in a natural wooded setting at the Devon School site (Knowles 67). In A Separate Peace the Devon River represents Finny in different ways. The Devon is above the dam, showing that Finny is above people based on his athleticism. The Devon River is natural and fresh which also ties in with Finny's character because Finny is a person that does not say words behind your back, but tells you the truth face to face and makes him "clean and natural"(Knowles 56).
             The Summer Session can also be related to Finny and the Devon River. During the Summer Session rules were not as strict. Finny would talk his way out of trouble by using ties between the war and the Devon School. There were three incidents that he had to talk his way out of so it became like the familiar settings of the Summer Session. During the Summer Session they would play and swim in the Devon River, and Finny would do tricks into the water. The Summer Session and Devon River are alike because Finny was mostly able to do whatever he wanted to do in both of them and enjoyed doing it.
             The Naguamsett River was another river at the Devon School. It was the river that was below the dam and it was a tidewater river, meaning its water can from the tide of the ocean. Gene was the character related to the Naguamsett River because both are controlled by outside forces. In the story Gene is "controlled" by Finny because Finny
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